ABOUT FULBRIGHT

My Fulbright Life

Transcript For: Alison Quatrini Current Fulbrighter to China

Alison Quatrini, Current Fulbrighter to China, discusses her Fulbright Experience.

Alison Quatrini

Schuyler:          Hi and welcome to My Fulbright Life. I’m your host, Schuyler Allen, and today I’m joined by Alison Quatrini who is a Fulbrighter currently in China and is going to share some of her experiences there today with us. Alison, thank you for joining us today.

Alison:              Thank you for having me.

Schuyler:          Where in China have you been doing your project and what is your project about?

Alison:              I have been mainly stationed in Peking. I’m affiliated with People’s University, and while my official field is Political Science, it’s taken quite a turn into Political History. So I am examining how mainland Chinese read KMT, which in Mandarin stands for Kuomintang or the Nationalist Party, history. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about Chiang Kai-shek. He’s the leader of the Nationalist party. There are a lot of differing opinions about him. Those in Taiwan think that he’s fabulous, one of the best things that ever happened to China. That’s of course because once the Nationalist party failed on the mainland, they moved to Taiwan, where they are to stay. Other people who have been associated with Mr. Chiang have a far different opinion of him and I’ve taken it upon myself to try to sort out different viewpoints from one of his wives to other people who knew him during the time. Edgar Snow met with him. And I’m trying to pool all these resources together to see what kind of picture I can get of him as a leader and if that will give me any clues as to why the party has been more successful in Taiwan than it has been on the mainland.

Schuyler:          OK, just for the uninitiated, who is Edgar Snow, for the people who are listening today?

Alison:              Edgar Snow was a journalist in China. He wrote a book, a very famous book called Red Star Over China. He followed a lot of the different leaders, was here during the revolution and involved in all kinds of political activities. He talked with leaders and has a lot of first hand accounts of what they were going through during the time.

Schuyler:          And how… what was the genesis of this project? Talk a little bit about your background in terms of how you came to decide to do this project in China as a Fulbrighter.

Alison:              Well, originally I had been interested in studying Philosophy and how that relates to Chinese politics, but my advisor here in China kind of steered me towards this project. And also my advisor in the United States—I’m  currently a Masters student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison—believed that if I examined KMT history on the mainland that that would help me with future research projects in China, so that I can better understand what I guess we would call the Chinese context: how people look at things here.

Schuyler:          Interesting. And so, have you been to China before? And do you speak Chinese? And what’s your affiliation? Who are you working with, specifically? And how are you conducting these interviews?

Alison:              Well, actually, I had never been to China before until I came last August. This is my first time here. It’s a first long time! But, no, I had never been to China before.

Schuyler:          How is that?

Alison:              I think in some ways I’ve faced challenges that perhaps other Fulbright scholars don’t because when I first arrived in China… I came here somewhat cold. I had had a connection at Peking University, who is my advisor. His name is Xie Qingkui and he is an acquaintance, a good friend of my advisor back in the United States. So I had that connection, but other than that, I really didn’t know any body here. I had to go from adjusting culturally, improving my Chinese, making friends, trying to figure out how things work in China, and try to produce something worthwhile.

Schuyler:          That sounds huge.

Alison:              It’s been challenging at times. I think sometimes my expectations of myself were a bit too high, but I think something good will come out of it. I had a very productive week; things are getting a lot better.

Schuyler:          So, did you learn Chinese before you undertook your grant? How did you go about taking on a very challenging language to being with, that a lot of Westerners, I think, struggle to try to learn?

Alison:              I started learning Chinese seven years ago when I began my undergraduate study.

Schuyler:          Gotcha.

Alison:              And originally I was encouraged to take on the language because China was becoming a major power in the world and I was told, “Speak Chinese, you’ll get a job for sure!” And I thought, well, that might be a good way to start out, I can explore Chinese and see how I do with it. But I actually really just enjoy it and I think that’s how I’ve made the progress that I’ve made up until this point. It’s very difficult to become fluent in Chinese. I’m not sure that I will ever be able to fully count myself among that number, but at the end of the day I’m not sure how much the result really matters. I just enjoy learning it. I think that’s how you make progress in a language like Chinese. You just have to enjoy it, and not worry as much about the result.

Schuyler:          Right, right. And as far as your interviews are concerned, I mean, it sounds like you are definitely able to get what you need based on the level of language that you have.

Alison:              I’ve had no trouble meeting with professors, with my advisor and with other professors, and with getting the names of other people who can help me. I’ve had little difficulty in understanding them at all. It’s gone very, very well.

Schuyler:          That’s amazing. So, let’s get a little window into what your life is like. I’m really curious to hear, just like a typical day for you. How does that go?

Alison:              Generally I start out in the morning—hopefully I do this in the morning, rather than the afternoon—practicing calligraphy. I take calligraphy classes on the side here from a master at Peking University’s Institute of Traditional Art and Culture, I believe the name is.

Schuyler:          And how’s that? That sounds amazing.

Alison:              It’s quite challenging. I’d actually studied calligraphy for 2 years prior to coming to china, but I studied a completely different style. I studied more block characters. But this particular master specializes in a completely different school of writing, where the different strokes have different characteristics and until you learn those you won’t be able to write the characters properly. And he also has different requirements regarding format, for example, he insists that all his students stand while they write. Previously I had been permitted to sit. There’s all kinds of paper that you can buy for calligraphy and it has a different feel with regard to how it responds to ink. And he has completely different paper that he wants me to use. Sometimes he wants me to use handmade cloth paper; now he’s asked me to buy those big, long scrolls that you see in museums. A little bit shorter than that, but now he wants me to start writing scrolls, and now I’ve gone from 16 characters to a page to 72. And I’m also left handed but I’ve been told that calligraphers don’t write left handed, there’s actually very few who can master it, particularly in this style, so I’ve also switched hands and I do calligraphy with my right hand.

Schuyler:          Wow, so you’ve become ambidextrous on top of everything else.

Alison:              Yes! I have taught myself how to use my right hand.

Schuyler:          Was that something that you bargained for when you undertook Fulbright?

Alison:              No it wasn’t and actually that’s been a very interesting part of my life here, is hearing how many people comment on my left handed nature. For example, whenever I’m eating, people will always comment, “Wow she’s using chopsticks with her left hand!” Or they may see me just write with a pen if I’m taking notes at the library or just writing something down. It’s generally something that people comment on.

Schuyler:          Very interesting. So, when you’re not conducting research or interviews, what are you doing in your downtime?

Alison:              In my downtime I meet with some old Chinese friends that I have around the city. There’s a young lady that I tutor in English once a week and her family has been very generous with me. They invite me over to dinner at their home and during the meal we all speak Chinese. The remainder of her family doesn’t speak English that well or at all. She has an elderly grandfather living at home so we try to speak Chinese also for his benefit. Following the meal I then help her with English and my main responsibility with regards to tutoring her is acting as a conversation partner, and asking her about her life as a Chinese highschool student, particularly one who will be preparing to take college exams next June. And she often asks me many questions about life as an American and in addition I have other language partners throughout the city that I meet with on a fairly regular basis. We usually do an hour and a half of Chinese followed by an hour and a half of English, and we just talk about both of our countries, how they are the same, how they are different and how being from an immigrant family—my father’s from Italy, so we don’t have a completely American family—how that makes me somewhat closer to my Chinese counterparts, and in some ways farther apart.

Schuyler:          Wow, it sounds like a very full and rich experience from this angle.

Alison:              I’m a busy person and I’m enjoying every minute.

Schuyler:          That said, what’s a challenge that you’ve encountered and how did you overcome it or address it?

Alison:              I think one of the biggest challenges that I’ve had in conducting my interviews and in meeting with the designated people who have agreed to help me with my work is sometimes the indirect nature of how they answer my questions. Oftentimes during a meeting in China it seems like the last few minutes are the ones that are most productive. In fact we spend a great deal of the earlier meeting talking about what seems like nothing at all. Additionally, I find that the approach that I generally use to discuss my research with professors in the United States doesn’t work as well here. For example I might meet with a professor in the United States and say, “Well, regarding this topic, what books should I read? What books should I avoid? Where can I find them? What kind of directions can you point me in, in terms of how I might go about analyzing this topic?” Broader questions are still welcome in the United States but I find that here when I ask questions like, “What should I be reading?” I don’t get a very specific answer, just, “Well, you’re going to have to read a lot. There’s a lot of sources you’re going to have to sift through out there,” and I just find that sort of response strange and I thought to myself, well, it’s doesn’t really cost anyone anything to just give me the name of a few books or an author who has worked on this topic, or a couple of journals which might be useful. What exactly am I doing wrong? And then I spoke with somebody who works with Fulbright in Beijing and she said you might try asking specific questions, for example, “What are the top three issues in this field today? What do you think is most interesting about this topic? Who are the top three scholars that are working on this topic? Where can I find them and what have they written? Are there any relevant journals? If so, when were they written? And what authors should I be looking for? What do you think is most controversial about this topic?  What do you think a foreigner would most benefit from looking at with regards to analyzing this topic?” And I tried this approach the last time I met my advisor and I had a very productive meeting and have found that I’ve had fewer problems in trying to access the materials. I’m getting somewhere now.

Schuyler:          I have to say, as someone who has written a masters thesis herself, and has been through graduate school, I’ve found some of those experiences to ring true here in the United States as well. I think sometimes meetings can end very productively and it seems like they go on forever and finally you get somewhere at the end. So, I… this sounds like a life lesson it doesn’t sound like it’s specifically unique to this culture. It sounds like something that will be a useful tool for beyond your Fulbright experience.

Alison:              Oh, I think so. And I’ve made some mental notes also as I’ve been working on this topic. Whoa, when I go back to the United States to finish my masters and hopefully start my PhD next fall I should remember that and make sure that I am better prepared for meetings with professors. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it as well, as much as the professors here do.

Schuyler:          Well, it sounds tremendous from this end and extremely useful. So that said, if I was applying to Fulbright for the 2009-10 cycle, what advice would you give me in terms of the application process, and also my time once I’ve settled into the country that I’m going to be doing my project in?

Alison:              I would say when applying for the Fulbright the best thing to do with regard to the drafts of the personal statement, which is called the curriculum vitae, in addition to the research proposal is not only write many drafts but also find people who are not in the specific research field to go over them with you. I provided my drafts to someone with a PhD in History; I provided them to someone who was working on a PhD in Economics. I generally did my best to find people in my university who knew nothing about China other than what I was telling them in those two documents, and they provided very useful feedback in what they thought was very clear, very well written, and what they still didn’t understand. And it was really helpful to hear from them what I should add to make my ideas a bit more clear, since the committee who will review the proposals don’t necessarily specialize in the topics that they are reading about. You have to learn how to write for an unspecialized audience. And I think that can be very challenging because when I sit down to write a basic summary of what’s happening in China, well that’s very simple for me, I often leave things out because I mistakenly assume that the people reading it also know the same things. But they don’t necessarily and it’s important to know ahead of time what you might be missing for the benefit of the people who will be reading the proposal.

Schuyler:          I think that’s absolutely excellent advice and in the words of another Fulbrighter I interviewed, he said, quite similarly to what you said, “Make sure that your grandmother understands what it is that you want to do.” It should be that clear that anybody should be able to understand what it is that you want to do. It’s astounding to me that in interviewing Fulbrighters, a lot of you come forward with some really tremendous, very useful ideas. I think that that suggestion is fabulous.

Alison:              That was the suggestion that I think worked best for me. At our university, we are fortunate to have a writing center and an international fellowships office that deal primarily with people applying for the Fulbright. And they actually put on workshops and writing classes a couple of times a year to help applicants and that was one of the things that they said over and over and over again. Make sure that you are passing your work on to those who are not specialized in your particular research field. It may be one of the best things that you do.

Schuyler:          And what advice would you give to a candidate once they’ve received the grant and have arrived in a country and are looking to settle in.

Alison:              I would say to be extremely patient with yourself. That’s something that I think I did not do as well as I could have, primarily because things work a lot differently in China with regard to libraries and archives. Not to say that it’s bad, it’s just different. For example, there are many books that I am not allowed to take out of the library. I also am a member at the National Library of China where I’ve just started doing some work and there are instances in which I am not allowed to even retrieve the books myself. I have to write the call number and the title down on a piece of paper and someone else will retrieve the book for me, and then I am not allowed to remove the book from the room. I have to read it there, which presents a challenge because it’s in Chinese. I would think that the most ideal way to deal with it would be to either be able to check the book out or to make photocopies and then take them home. That’s not always possible.

Schuyler:          I think that’s fantastic advice. You mentioned that you’ve got your masters waiting for you back at U. Wisconsin-Madison. What are your plans beyond that, as a result of Fulbright and your masters?

Alison:              Currently, I am applying to PhD programs in Political Science around the United States, and I do hope to begin that next fall. And then eventually becoming a professor specializing in China.

Schuyler:          Tremendous. And any area of specialization that you intend on working in as a professor?

Alison:              I haven’t decided firmly yet, but I’ve taken a great deal of interest in Chinese ethnic minorities, with specific interest in language and how they use their languages.

Schuyler:          Alison, thank you so much for joining us today. This has been a wonderful conversation and I thank you for your time and a window into your life in China as a Fulbrighter.

Alison:              Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this interview.